‘Ripple effect’: 172 dead as the 2019 road toll continues to surge across Victoria
The family of English-born Colin Waters, killed when he was hit by a car while cycling in Taylors Lake on Wednesday, has arrived in Australia as the community rallies behind his widow and children, raising more than $13,000 for them in less than a day.
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A fundraiser page for the cyclist killed on Wednesday morning in Taylors Lakes has raised more than $13,000 in less than 24 hours.
Essex-born Colin Waters was killed when he was hit by a car while cycling on the Melton Highway in Taylors Lake about 6.40am on Wednesday.
Close friends of the Waters family started the GoFundMe page to assist with costs for his grieving family.
Colin was working in Australia on a sponsored visa as a railway signalling engineer, meaning there is no guarantee his widow and children will be able to remain in Australia.
His devastated parents have today landed in Australia travelling from the UK to farewell their beloved son.
Steve Waters said his Essex-born brother Colin Waters was a “family man” who loved his wife, two sons aged 21 and 16, and parents unconditionally.
“As his brother, I thought the world of him,” he said.
“He was a family man. We are all in disbelief.”
Steve called his elderly parents hours after his brother was pronounced dead at the scene.
He delivered the news 20-year-old P-plate driver Mehdi Sameri had allegedly struck their son.
“It was the worst phone call I’ve had to make,” he said. “They are absolutely devastated.
“There are two families here that have been tragically impacted — the family of the driver has also been ripped apart.”
Mr Waters said the family were uncertain what the future held but they were adamant they wanted to stay in Australia.
Sameri returned to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for a filing hearing and did not apply for bail.
He faces six charges including culpable, dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop and render assistance, and will return to court on October 17.
WHY ISN’T ROAD TOLL SHOCKING ALL VICTORIANS?
Another seven people lost their lives in road accidents in Victoria over the past six days.
A disabled 18-year-old getting out of a taxi, a 14-year-old boy walking along the street and a beloved father out for his morning cycle were among this week’s casualties.
Top road cops are devastated by the climbing number and are pleading with Victorians to wake up to the tragedy as the road toll climbs to 172 for 2019.
“If we continue at the current rate, we’re going to kill 312 on our roads (this year),” Victoria Police Road Policing Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Mick Grainger told the Herald Sun.
“That’s half the Australian cricket team being wiped out in a week.
“For whatever reason, the fact that we have lost that many people just this week seems to not impact the community.
“Most people, if it doesn’t affect that, give it little regard because it’s horrifying to think about.”
Roads deaths were like a hand plunging into a bucket of water, according to the road policing officer.
“There’s a ripple effect,” he said. “Every death has an impact.”
One of the seven deaths over the past week was an 18-year-old wheelchair user.
The Springvale teen was getting out of a taxi in Clayton when another car struck him.
He was taken to hospital but could not be saved.
“He got cleaned up by a second vehicle,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Grainger said.
“That driver who failed to see that pedestrian was a young driver themselves.
“It is just horrific for the family, not only for the young man who was at the start of his life … but there is a significant impact on them (the driver) and their close family and friends.
“This is the tragedy that we see play out every day on our roads.”
Road deaths also take a massive toll on the officers working on the cases.
“At each of the road deaths this year, our members have been there in the immediate aftermath, a part of each of these tragedies stays with them,” Secretary of the Police Association Wayne Gatt said.
“They’ve had to deliver the worst possible news to a family never ready to hear it. That task never gets any easier.”
Victorian road police are in consultation with their interstate counterparts to try and understand what is going wrong on our roads and what we can be doing better.
Joe Calafiore from the Transport Accident Commission, top road safety cop Stephen Leane from Victoria Police and the minister for road safety, Jaala Pulford, have also gone on a study tour to Sweden to learn more.
A new state government office will be dedicated to reducing the number of lives lost on our roads from August 1.
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Experts at VicRoads and the Department of Transport will be merged into a new department called Road Safety Victoria focused on stopping fatal crashes and serious injuries.
VicRoads’s chief executive, Robyn Seymour, will be the head of the new office.
Road Safety advocate Norm Robinson, whose 19-year-old son Luke died in a Lovely Banks crash in 2010, said the road safety message was not getting through.
“Mobile phones should be impounded for seven days for anyone caught using them,” he said.
“It should be impounded at a local police station and the user should pay an impound fee.
“The current penalties are not sufficient.”
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